President Obama hit the road Wednesday to bash Republicans for their approach to women’s issues, accusing GOP leaders of framing the pay gap between the sexes as a “choice.”
“Some of them do dispute that it’s a problem. Some of them say it’s a woman’s choice,” Obama said at a town hall in Charlotte, N.C., hosted by the websites BlogHer and SheKnows.
“They’ve got daughters, too. They’ve got spouses. Why would I want my spouse or daughter discriminated against? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Obama’s trip to North Carolina is the White House’s latest attempt to frame Republicans as out of touch on women’s issues, a theme that Democrats will amplify in the buildup to the 2016 presidential election.
The president insisted that Republicans have no valid reason for blocking equal-pay legislation.
And he joked about a certain pay discrepancy at the White House.
“There’s clearly not equal pay in the White House when it comes to her and me,” Obama said, noting that Michelle Obama does not draw a salary as first lady.
However, Obama’s top spokesman, Josh Earnest, has acknowledged that “we still have more work to do” to close the pay gap between men and women working at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Female staffers at the White House make 88 cents for every dollar earned by a man.
Republicans argue that statistics showcasing pay discrepancies between men and women are complicated, with women often choosing to take different types of jobs than their male counterparts, for reasons including childcare and flexibility.
